A New, Old Coach At Manchester ... And So Much Moore
Posted
Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
Today is one of those days where I have several topics to cover and only so many inches of space to fit it all into. Let’s see how far we get. I have to admit, I smiled when I opened an email from Manchester High School Athletic Director Jeremy Markham with the announcement of the new boys basketball coach there. It’s Mark Underwood … yep, THAT Mark Underwood. The one who did an outstanding job of coaching the girls program at Manchester during a very strong run in the early 2000s. A couple of 20 win-seasons and three sectional titles highlighted a pretty successful stint from 2001-2013. He knows basketball and he knows how to lead young people. When the smoke started to swirl around the possibility of Eric Thompson returning to Peru, what a great comfort to know that you have a guy in the building you can turn to on relatively short notice to coach your boys basketball team. Manchester should be glad it has Mark Underwood. Meanwhile the only action on Nic Moore’s phone is from people like me checking in to see what NBA teams are showing interest in him. Truth is, there doesn’t seem to be much movement from GMs in the association with the draft about a month away. I am not sure if I really thought he was going to get drafted, but I DID think he would be lining up dates to visit cities and tryout for them. That hasn’t started happening … at least not yet. With time to think on it, it’s actually better for him to not get drafted. If he would get selected in the draft it would most likely be in the second round, and his chances of hooking on with that team would hinge on beating out someone else on that roster. Not getting drafted means he is free to go work out for whoever he wants and be seen by a lot of different teams. The more people who see him the more they will get to see what we all have seen and know what we all know, and take a chance. The knock on him is the same one he’s been dealing with since he was a fourth grader at Madison: “Well, he’s not very tall.” Shame on them for being lazy and not doing their homework. I know two things: Nic Moore plays bigger than his stature, and the NBA is shrinking. Moore is the two-time reigning Player of the Year is his conference and was coached by Larry Brown, who is still very well connected in league circles. Moore’s resumé is pretty tight and his court sense and natural leadership ability should be worth a lot. The NBA today is trending toward smaller lineups and quicker guards with the ability to set up snipers for three-point shots. Uhhhh, that’s our No. 11 isn’t it? It’s not time to panic yet. Someone is going to see the value in just giving him a chance, and when they do they will be glad they did. The Dimwit Award goes to Gerrit Cole, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After getting owned by the Cubs last season, knocked out of the playoffs by said team, and then losing five straight games to them to start this season, Cole announced that the Cubs “aren’t the best team in baseball.” Dude, come on? Even after that loss the Cubs were still a full eight games clear of the Bucs and four better than the White Sox for the best record in baseball. Over 100 years of history may say the boys in blue will still figure out a way to not win the World Series, but even the hardest-hearted White Sox or Cardinal fan would admit that they are the best on the diamonds right now. If I were him, I would prepare to get a heater between the fourth and fifth ribs in a game later this season. And now some completely random thoughts: • I went fishing, once. I caught one fish and it has literally rained every day since. • Did anyone find it ironic that Ben Barkey was named Indiana Teacher of the Year, and a couple of days later he was named an assistant principal at the high school. I am not being critical of the move at all, he’ll be a really good AP, but the timing made it weird. I hope they can work it out so he can keep coaching golf. • Did you ever notice that McDonald’s will sell you their signature egg sandwich with Canadian Bacon and sausage, but not regular bacon? • Indy 500 qualifications are Saturday and Sunday and the reserve seating is sold out. Maybe the people at the speedway can convince us that every year is the 100th running of the race.
